A chain of grocery stores that primarily caters to Latino consumers was charged Tuesday with routinely selling out of code merchandise and other practices that consumer advocacy groups say could be endangering the health of its customers.

El Super says the claims are untrue and are a hard-ball tactic to influence ongoing labor negotiations.

A press conference was held outside the El Super Market in Highland Park to show expired products that are sold in the chain of grocery stores. (EGP photo by Jacqueline Garcia)

With a display of out of date dairy and deli products as their backdrop, speakers standing on a street corner outside the El Super grocery store in Highland Park told reporters that inspectors from the Los Angeles County Health Department in January identified two “Critical Risk Factor” violations at the El Super store in Santa Fe Springs “that pose a threat to the public health that required immediate correction.”

The violations allegedly included a “dirty interior” and “multiple servings of potentially hazardous foods,” which had not been kept at the proper temperature. El Super, as usually is the case in these situations, was ordered to dispose of the product.

Organizers of Tuesday’s press conference said their “field researchers” followed up on the health department’s report and surveyed the grocery chain’s other locations for possible violations. They say surveyors found “one or more fresh prepackaged meat, dairy product and/or service deli item(s) that was/were past the printed sell, use or best by date” in 29 of the 30 stores they investigated. They claim that violations found by the county health department are likely “widespread,” and they were expected to send a letter to the county’s director of environmental health urging the agency “to launch an immediate investigation into El Super.”

The letter was to be signed by representatives of the East Los Angeles Community Corporation, Consumer Federation of California, Pueblo & Salud and Strategic concepts in Organizing and Policy Education.

“As consumers, we have the right to give our opinion and the obligation to know what we are consuming in our supermarkets, mainly because the economic crisis is really bad” and we don’t want to buy “rotten food,” said Maribel Godinez, who participated in the press conference and indentified herself as an El Super customer.

She said cleanliness is an issue in other areas as well, such as the shopping carts, which she said “are very dirty.”

They say that it is our fault, but we don’t bring them from our homes, they have them here.”

A statement released to the press also claims that at least “one third of stores visited had what appeared to be visible blood” and “one in five stores had visible, unidentified slime” inside one or more meat coolers.

“Just because we are low-income people that doesn’t mean we deserve to be sold expired products,” Maria Cabildo, president of East Los Angeles Community Corporation told EGP. “For me, working with low-income people who do not have a car, [I see] they are walking to the market and have very limited choices of where to buy,” she said.

But expiration dates on products are not always a legal indicator as to when a product can no longer be sold. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states on its website that “administers do not preclude the sale of food that is past the expiration date indicated on the label” and the information is “entirely at the discretion of the manufacturer.”

“Unfortunately, in the state of California it is not illegal to sell spoiled food, this is a big loophole and I think it is a loophole that we want to see closed,” Mike Shimpock, spokesperson of the Grocery Workers Union told EGP. “This is something that we did in order to raise the profile of what’s happening and to try to shame El Super into selling quality of food that consumers deserve,” he added.

While many people find product being sold past a product’s “sell by,” “best used by,” or “use or freeze by” labels, numerous studies have shown that the dates do not always indicate the last day that a product is still safe to consume.

“[They] have the resources and ability to set the bar for ethnic grocers in Southern California,” Richard Holober, executive director of Consumer Federation of California said in a press release. “Instead, we find serious violations of the County Health Code and potentially unsafe business practices.”

EGP contacted El Super and Francisco Aguirre Jr. community relations manager sent a statement saying that the press conference was the outcome to the negotiation of a labor agreement between the union and the company.

“During labor disputes, a lot of claims get made, often without any basis in fact. This is no exception. While the union wants [Tuesday’s] event to appear to stem from the community, reality is that it was a union orchestrated event and the allegations which were raised are meritless and unwarranted,” said Aguirre in the statement.

El Super is a multinational company owned in 80 percent by Mexico-base retailer Grupo Comercial Chedraui and which reported $120 millions in profits on 2012.

“We take the issue of public health very seriously, and so should El Super,” states the letter sent on February 18, 2014.

At a town hall meeting last week in Boyle Heights sponsored by Los Angeles Police Dept. Hollenbeck Division, residents told police officers that despite data police say shows crime is down in their eastside neighborhood, they do not feel safe.

Last Thursday’s town hall only drew about 50 people, but those who attended said two recent homicides and other crimes have raised alarms about violence across their community.

“We don’t feel safe anymore,” Boyle Heights resident Joaquin Castellanos said before asking for more to be done to increase public safety where he lives.

Police said the two most recent shootings were close in proximity and timing, but were not related.

They were referring to the Jan. 17 murder of Oscar Alberto Felix, who was shot at his residence on the 600 block of N. Fickett St., and which according to police was gang-related. In the second incident, which occurred Feb. 3 outside El Troquero Bar on Cesar Chavez Ave., Jesus Manuel Nunez, 22, was killed after an argument with another man.

Officers presented the latest crime statistics for the area ending Feb. 8, 2014, which compared totals to the same time period in 2013: 21 robberies so far in 2014 compared to 34 in 2013, 31 shots fired compared to 17 in 2013 and 15 shooting victims compared to 5 in 2013.

“In a four week period we had several shootings, but those shootings also included people shooting in the air, people shooting at a house. Any time a firearm is discharged in city limits it is [considered] a crime report,” Hollenbeck Police Captain Martin A. Baeza told EGP following the meeting, again emphasizing that crime is down.

LAPD Hollenbeck Police held a town hall meeting in Boyle Heights last Thursday to address concerns about recent crime activity. (EGP photo by Jacqueline García)

“We attribute the majority of the shootings to have some kind of gang nexus,” Baeza said, explaining that at last count 34 different gangs were active in the area served by the Hollenbeck division, which include El Sereno, Lincoln Heights, Boyle Heights, Hermon, Montecito Heights, Rose Hills and Monterey Hills.

“They are usually fighting for territory and fighting among themselves,” he explained.

But the department’s crime stats did little to relieve concerns of residents who voiced a variety of issues, some beyond the scope of what the police department can handle.

Beside more police patrols, Castellanos wants an investigation of marijuana dispensaries in Boyle Heights to see if they are legal and following the law. Clean up the trash along Cesar Chavez Ave., Castellanos demanded.

Long-time Boyle Heights resident Rosie Gurrola attends many public meetings in the community and has for years been outspoken on local issues. She said Thursday that public safety is still a big concern in Boyle Heights. “There are horrendous messages with graffiti in the murals,” she pointed out firmly to police.

The lack of nighttime lighting at the Evergreen Recreation Center on East 2nd Street was a hot topic of concern, with several people saying they have repeatedly asked for lights at the park to stay on after dark to help deter crime activity.

“Turn the lights on at night at the park and public places. When lights are off homeboys and homegirls come out,” said Larreine Lavoiel.

Budget constraints may be a factor as to why the lights at Evergreen and other publics places do not stay on longer, but Area Supervisor Jennifer Martinez said she would take the issue back to her boss, Councilman Jose Huizar who represents the area.

Maria Banda attended the meeting in hopes of getting an explanation as to why her 18-year-old son was shot five times by LAPD officers on Nov. 3, 2013.

“I don’t have anything against you [LAPD], if my son did something wrong it is fine to punish him for what he did, not for what he didn’t, but was it necessary” too shoot him so many times? she asked calmly. Her son is in jail, accused of assault with a deadly weapon against a police officer.

Police did not respond to her at the time, but following the meeting Baeza told her the case is no longer in their hands and she should speak to the district attorney in charge of the case.

“They haven’t given me any answers yet,” Banda told EGP.

Banda said police suggested she work with others to find a solution to the area’s gang problems. They said I should form a group of gang members’ mothers “who can speak about the issue and understand what happens in the area,” she told EGP.

Baeza said he understands that the nature of their work causes many people to see police negatively, either because they are arresting people or giving them tickets. But he believes that by being involved in the community, some people will come to see things differently.

“Last month alone we attended 38 community meetings, neighborhood watch meetings, council meetings, different events in the community,” he said, demonstrating his point.

At the end of the day, Hollenbeck police want to be able to respond to questions and see how we can work with the community, he added.

“We know Hollenbeck is an immigrant community … I don’t care about your immigration status, what I care about is that you feel safe, so if you see a crime occurring, have the confidence to call us.”

Three Los Angeles City Council members Tuesday called for raising the minimum wage to $15.37 an hour for about 11,000 hotel workers in the city.

The California minimum wage is $8 an hour and is set to go to $9 in July and $10 by 2016. Voters in cities such as Long Beach and San Jose have opted in recent years to raise the local minimum wage above the state’s for all or some workers. San Francisco, which in 2003 pegged its minimum wage to inflation, requires employers to pay workers at least $10.74 an hour.

City Council members Mike Bonin, Nury Martinez and Curren Price Jr. asked for a study of the effects of increasing the hourly wage for some of the lowest paid hotel workers in the city, including housekeepers, dishwashers, clerks and bellhops.

The raise would affect employees at 87 hotels with more than 100 rooms.

If the economic study supports the hike, an ordinance would be drafted, according to a proposal to be discussed by the City Council’s Economic Development Committee.

Los Angeles city leaders are allowed to adopt local minimum wage increases as long as an economic study is done, and it shows the city would benefit from the change, Bonin spokesman David Graham-Caso said.

A higher minimum wage in Los Angeles can also be adopted without a study if it is approved by voters, he said.

Council members point to existing research by the Economic Policy Institute that says raising hotel wages would result in more than $70 million for Los Angeles’s economy.

“We’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do for people who work two and three jobs and still struggle to make ends meet,” and “because it’s the right way to grow the economy in Los Angeles,” Bonin said.

A person paid $15 an hour makes about $30,000 annually, which “doesn’t get you very far if you’re trying to exist in Los Angeles,” Bonin said.

Bonin said the city and taxpayers have invested in free public attractions such as Griffith Park and Venice Beach, as well as improvements to the transportation system that contribute to the health of the local hotel industry, which is experiencing a record 75.4 percent occupancy rate — higher than the 62 percent national average.

Hotels are also earning $100 in “revenue per room available,” which is a 12-year high in Los Angeles, according to the motion.

“The Los Angeles hospitality industry is thriving,” Martinez said.

“We’re glad for their success, but they also need to understand they did not do it alone.”

“Now we’re asking Los Angeles hotels to pay Angelenos a living wage to benefit from the success” that all Angelenos have contributed to, she said.

Martinez said “women in particular are hurting from the low-pay wages,” with housekeepers among the lowest paid in the hotel industry.

They work just as hard as other employees cleaning about 15 rooms a day and experience a 40 percent injury rate, she said.

Martinez, whose father worked as a dishwasher and had to take another job “just to make ends meet,” said the issue is personal.

“Thank goodness my mother got a factory job that paid a living wage and was able to provide for her family and ensure the quality time we needed growing up,” she said, noting that Price Pfister, the Pacoima factory where her mother worked, is gone along with others that once provided jobs paying good wages.

“We no longer have those big factory jobs like we once did in the San Fernando Valley,” she said.

Price, who chairs the Economic Development Committee, said a wage hike will benefit the local economy, because the workers affected are more likely to spend their higher wages on small businesses in their own neighborhoods.

“The folks who are going to be earning these additional wages aren’t going to be investing them on Wall Street,” Price said. “They’re going to be getting groceries and shoes, and furniture, their tires repaired.”

The City Council in 2007 passed a “living wage ordinance” for workers at hotels near Los Angeles International Airport.

The council in 2009 also passed a wage increase ordinance for airport employees. Those workers are paid a minimum wage of $15.37 an hour, Bonin said.

Some Los Angeles business leaders questioned the motives behind the proposed wage increase.

“As long as this mandated wage increase would only apply to non-union hotels with union hotels exempt, this is not a true public policy debate about worker compensation, but an attempt to use government to create leverage for union organizing,” said Gary Toebben, president of the LA Area Chamber of Commerce.

“With all the discussion about improving the lives of service industry workers, why would we ever set two separate wage floors for union and non-union workers?” he said.

Bonin said federal law bars the city from imposing a wage hike at hotels with employees who earn union-negotiated wages.

Like many other cities across California, Montebello is looking into ways it can help conserve water. It’s a direct response to the governor’s declaration of a statewide drought emergency, and could lead to the city adopting its own declaration of a water supply shortage and strict enforcement of water conservation ordinances.

Montebello Mayor William M. Molinari asked Public Works Director Danilo Batson to survey the city’s five water suppliers — California Water Service, Montebello Land and Water Company, San Gabriel Valley Water Company, South Montebello Irrigation District and the City of Montebello water service operated by the San Gabriel Valley Water Company — to “get an idea of what the water situation is and how able they are to deliver adequate water to their customers.”

“I think were all aware of the statewide drought situation that is very critical,” he said during the Feb. 12 council meeting. “I think we all have a responsibility to do what we can to conserve water in this very critical situation,” Molinari said. “This is one of the most serious droughts in the history of this state and it’s having an economic impact as well in some areas.”

Batson told EGP city staff has already contacted the five water companies and will be reporting back to council during its next meeting when council members are expected to consider recommendations on water conservation efforts. He said at this time the companies are able to continue providing water to residents, but they should expect to receive reading materials on important conservation recommendations.

What many residents may not realize is that the city already has permanent water conservation laws in place to prevent the “unreasonable use of water.”

A city ordinance passed in 2009 established the Water Conservation and Supply Shortage Program to prevent water waste and to maximize the efficient use of water within the city to avoid a water shortage.

The ordinances, detailed in the Montebello Municipal City Code, outline actions the city can take to restrict water use, and contain tiered-levels of response depending on the severity of the water shortage.

Restrictions include prohibiting the watering of lawns and other landscape with “potable water” between 10 a.m. to an hour before sunset and only watering for a maximum of 15 minutes on specified days based on a property’s street address: odd-numbered street addresses may water on odd-numbered dates and even-numbered street addresses on even-numbered dates.

Residents would be prohibited from filling or re-filling a private pool according to the same schedule. Pools must also be covered for no less than 5 days, unless it is in use, in order to minimize evaporation.

The washing down of paved surfaces such as sidewalks and driveways is also prohibited. Similarly, cars may not be washed in driveways unless a bucket or a hose with a “self-closing water shut-off nozzle” is used.

The city’s ordinances also regulate water usage at local businesses, such as prohibiting food and drinking establishments from providing water to patrons unless the guest explicitly requests it.

In more severe shortages, the city, at its sole discretion, can declare a Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 water supply shortage, which would further limit watering days and toughen other restrictions on water use.

Batson told EGP that the level or a shortage is determined with the help of the water companies based on their supplies. However, at this point Montebello is “not going to be affected that much,” he said.

In the case of a Level 3 shortage, the city would notify residents and businesses that water supplies will be significantly reduced. The use of potable water, which flows to a property from water supplier, for watering landscapes, washing vehicles and other uses could be restricted entirely. The city also has the option to deny new requests for new water service and meters, and to order a water supplier to cut service to water users it believes to be “willfully” violating the ordinance.

The first violation will prompt a warning followed by several hundreds of dollars in fines for every additional violation. The city may also have the water supply company restrict the amount of water capacity to the residence or businesses on 48-hour notice. Violation of the code could be prosecuted by the city as a misdemeanor, punishable with jail time or a fine of up to $1,000 or both.

“I think its possible [Montebello] will get to that level,” Batson told EGP. “Its more of a voluntary conservation at this point.”